Login

Lost your password?

Sign Up

Register

Login

Login

Lost your password?

Register

Sunday, April 11, 2021
  • Home
  • Banking
  • Industry & Trade
  • Investing
  • Money Deals
  • Regional Markets
  • Tech & Biz
  • Countries
  • Opinion

Africa's
Investment
Gateway

The Exchange
  • Login
  • Register
Subscribe
This Month's Edition
Previous Editions
  • Home
  • Banking
  • Industry & Trade
  • Investing
  • Money Deals
  • Regional Markets
  • Tech & Biz
  • Countries
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
The Exchange
  • Home
  • Banking
  • Industry & Trade
  • Investing
  • Money Deals
  • Regional Markets
  • Tech & Biz
  • Countries
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
The Exchange
LOGIN

Apple Pay launches services in Africa for the first time

Apple Pay allows users to load a supported banking card and use their Apple device to make contactless payment

Mustapha Juma by Mustapha Juma
April 8, 2021
in Banking, Southern Africa
0
Share on FacebookShare on LinkedIn

Digital mobile payment platform Apple Pay last week silently went live in South Africa, with at least three banks supporting the service.

This is the first time the service is being launched in Africa.

How Apple Pay works

Apple Pay is the smartphone manufacturer’s payment and digital wallet system. Users of the iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch can use the feature to pay online on various apps and at Tap and Pay NFC terminals. A bank card needs to be connected to the service.

Apple Pay allows users to load a supported banking card and use their Apple device – such as an iPhone or cellular Apple Watch – to make a contactless payment at supported NFC-based terminals.

Banks supporting Apple Pay

Following the launch of the service in Africa, three South African banks are listed on Apple’s website as partners supporting Apple Pay.

They are Absa, Discovery and Nedbank; the first two support only Visa cards, while Nedbank supports Visa, Mastercard and American Express cards.

Apple Pay is here, and it’s brought to you by Discovery Bank. Apple users with a Discovery Bank card can now enjoy a safer and more convenient way to pay. Plus, they will continue enjoying all the rewards they usually get with a Discovery Bank card. The future of Banking. Now pic.twitter.com/R03alIsY6g

— @Discovery_SA (@Discovery_SA) March 30, 2021

According to Business Insider, First National Bank, one of the nation’s big five banks and the oldest, is also working to make it available after it missed out on the service.

The service is also not available to FNB, Investec, and Standard Banks.

An Investec customer on Twitter shared a screenshot showing that he received a “Your Issuer Does not Yet Offer Support for This Card” message.

FNB Card CEO Chris Labuschagne who spoke to one of the local dailies said the bank was working with Apple and looked forward to bringing Apple Pay to its customers.

Since it was released in October 2014, the service has grown in popularity in North America and Europe for the convenience it affords users within the iOS ecosystem.

It is integrated with hundreds of banks in those regions including big banks like J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, HSBC and  Deutsche Bank.

There have been various signs over the last few months that the service would be coming to banks, including mentions of it on the websites of Absa and Discovery Bank.

Apple Pay customers’ experience

On Tuesday last week, several South Africans reported that they managed to load their banking cards to the Apple Wallet and successfully make payments with the service.

Also Read: Egypt -Sudan electrical linkage capacity to be raised following mega deal

Discovery Bank account holders started reporting through social media that they were able to use the service after one user spotted ads from Discovery Bank for the Apple Pay platform on a Google Search.

Users shared screenshots showing the final step in the Apple Wallet process with their Discovery Bank cards successfully added.

Two of the Discovery Bank cards confirmed to be supported included the Gold Debit and Signature Debit account cards.

Impact

The launch of Apple Pay in South Africa speaks to Apple’s intention to increase its penetration in Sub-Saharan Africa where the adoption of digital payments has increased since the start of the pandemic.

With South Africa setting the ball rolling, it remains to be seen where next Apple Pay becomes available in Africa. Nigeria and Kenya would appear plausible destinations based on smartphone and internet penetration metrics, but it would depend on where Apple finds suitable bank partners to power users’ cards.

Competition

Android currently dominates the mobile operating system market share in South Africa with 83.71% while iOS is at 15.84%. Across the continent, smartphones by Tecno, itel and Infinix (all produced by Transsion, the Chinese manufacturer) dominate shipments for being cheaper alternatives to Apple and Samsung’s more expensive brands.

Also Read: How Tanzania’s new leadership under a woman is building confidence

Apple Pay joins Samsung Pay in South Africa in the market of contactless payment options. The latter launched in August 2018 to support payments for users of Samsung’s flagship Galaxy smartphones. Samsung Pay partners the three banks currently available on Apple Pay, and includes others like FNB, Investec and Standard Bank.

Tags: AbsaApple PayDiscoveryNedbankSamsung PaySouth Africa
Mustapha Juma

Mustapha Juma

Related Posts

Banking

Tanzania-Kenya redefining relations as President Samia seeks a new era for East Africa

April 10, 2021
Banks in East Africa raise bad loans provision to cushion distressed customers
Banking

East African banks address non-performing loans during wake of pandemic

April 10, 2021
zimbabwe food security
Countries

Food Insecurity in Zimbabwe: A Crisis in the Making?

April 1, 2021
Next Post
African ventures raise $150 million to support start-ups in Egypt

African ventures raise $150 million to support start-ups in Egypt

Tanzanian Billionaire Mohammed Dewji Lands Investment Advisory Job In S.A

Folorunso Alakija Drops From Forbes List Of Nigeria's Dollar-Billionaires




This months edition

Features

Let’s market East Africa as a single investment destination- EABC Pic
Countries

East Africa Business Council fast tracking Congo to join EAC

by Kawira Mutisya
April 2, 2021
0

The opportunities for trade in the DRC are huge for the EAC—the value of goods the country imported in 2019 stood at US$6.6...

Read more
Ethiopian Airlines- The Exchange (aviation)
Aviation

Propelling Africa’s Aviation sector to greater heights  

April 1, 2021
Flowers (Kenya Flower Council- KFC)
Agribusiness

Kenya-UK trade deal—silver lining from a budding sector 

April 1, 2021
Kenya Automates import export processes to boost efficiency AFA-IMIS platform (Source TMEA)
Countries

Kenya Automates import/export processes to boost efficiency  

April 6, 2021
Women access to digital finance
Africa

Empowering women farmers to access financing 

April 1, 2021

News

Banking
Industry & Trade
Investing
Money Deals
Regional Markets
Tech & Biz
Opinion

Countries

Kenya
Tanzania
Uganda
Burundi
Rwanda
Southern Africa
Ethiopia

More

My Account
Contact us
Advertise
About us
Help Center

Subscribers Center

E-paper
Premium Stories
Education Rates
Corporate Subscriptions
Weekely Newsletter

  • My account
  • About us
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Refund Policy – The Exchange
  • Sitemap
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Banking
  • Industry & Trade
  • Investing
  • Money Deals
  • Regional Markets
  • Tech & Biz
  • Countries
  • Opinion
  • Login
  • Sign Up
  • Cart

© 2021 The Exchange - Designed by Mediapix.

Welcome Back!

Sign In with Facebook
Sign In with Google
Sign In with Linked In
OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Sign Up with Facebook
Sign Up with Google
Sign Up with Linked In
OR

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Sign up to The Exchange Africa’s Newsletter and access Africa’s the latest investment trends, commentary and exclusives on the Continent. Sign up and access 5 free Premium articles!

Support Quality African Journalism!